Image by David Peterson from Pixabay
By: Gary D. Barnett
______________________________________________________________________________
I published this “blast from the past” on November 22, 2011. It is still appropriate today as the war against Iran by the United States has heated to very dangerous levels. This will continue until a hot war explodes, and at that point, the risk to all of us will have escalated to an extremely dangerous position due to not only the raw aggression that will be evident by the terroristic United States against Iran, but the involvement of nuclear powers Russia and China.
______________________________________________________________________________
War, war, and more war seem to be the primary objective of the U.S. government and its military. Of course, the corporations dependent on these merchants of death for their booty are also salivating for more foreign carnage by this nefarious government. After all, so long as foreigners and the children of regular Americans are the ones dying for the state, the “elites” have all the cannon fodder necessary to continue this profitable and imperialistic venture.
The latest threats, and these are serious threats, are being directed at Iran. Regardless of the fact that the U.S. is still considered the world’s super power, any aggressive war against Iran could come back to haunt even the most evil and powerful designers of U.S. foreign policy.
Iran is a country with 8o million people. Given the trouble the U.S. has had in dealing with places like Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, what on earth do they think will happen if they wage war on Iran? Keep in mind that the U.S. is already involved in multiple wars of aggression, and now is attempting to take over Africa as well. This type of imperialism will eventually lead to the destruction of the empire, but if either Israel or the U.S. attacks Iran now, all hell could break loose!
Iran is the world’s forth largest oil producer, which makes it attractive to many hostile neighbors, and to big oil companies. This is reason enough for concern, but Iran is also geographically important, at least in the eyes of American foreign policy makers. Iran is bordered by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, and Turkmenistan, and is just across the Persian Gulf from Saudi, Arabia. Iran literally is the middle of the Middle East. Iran also borders the Caspian Sea, and the U.S. has long been after those huge stores of oil. Much of the reason for the war in Afghanistan was based on building and securing the north-south oil pipeline that would allow oil delivery from the Caspian through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and into Pakistan. Securing Iran would take the U.S. a step closer to gaining access to the oil in the Caspian, but at what cost?
China and Russia, both nuclear powers, are very important trading partners with Iran. China now has very extensive oil and gas contracts with Iran. Iran currently supplies 12% of China’s oil, making Iran the third largest supplier of crude to China. The Iran/China annual trade value is expected to increase to 50 billion dollars just over the next few years. Russia and Iran trade ties have expanded to include agriculture and telecommunications, as well as energy and other goods, and Iran exports many products to Russia. Will Russia and China sit back while aggressive attacks are taking place, or will they protect their interests in Iran?
This is only the tip of the iceberg, but it is obvious that any unleashing of force against Iran would probably come with many unintended consequences, very dangerous consequences at that. War with Iran would force the other Arab states to take sides. The entire Middle East would become a boiling pot of turmoil. The region is already a powder keg, and little agitation is necessary to turn this situation into total chaos.
In the past 100 years or so, Iran has not aggressively attacked any country, much less any western country. During that same period, the U.S. and its complicit military have aggressively attacked, and in many cases occupied, country after country, nation after nation, and now are interfering with entire continents. The U.S. has become the leader in perpetual unholy wars of aggression against innocents, and most in this country still cling to the misguided notion that America is exceptional. It is only exceptional in its desire to gain total hegemony in its quest to conquer the world!
I fear that any attack of Iran by United States forces would bring cataclysmic results never before seen on this earth. Considering all the players involved, the entire Middle East, including Israel, China, Russia, the NATO countries, and probably others, the ramifications would be deadly. This could easily turn into World War III, and with this many countries involved, it might only be a matter of time until nuclear weapons were used. If that happened, where would it stop, considering the nuclear capabilities of the U.S., China, Russia, Pakistan, India, and of course Israel? It is evident that without the use of nuclear weapons by Israel or the U.S., Iran would be difficult if not impossible to defeat. This truth is not escapable.
The Pentagon is building and testing monstrous flying bombs that can travel anywhere on earth within an hour, killing all people in any given location. Killer drone bases are being constructed everywhere. Our liberty at home has disappeared, and torture and rendition are commonplace. And while indefinite detention without trial is now accepted, and while the president on his say so alone can assassinate Americans or anyone else he chooses, most are sitting in their living rooms waiting to see Dancing with the Stars or Monday Night Football. I have never seen or experienced anything more pathetic in my lifetime. This sickens me!
World War III might be just around the corner. The possibility of nuclear war is now a real threat, and that threat is too dangerous to consider. Do these loathsome politicians and war makers know the real risks? Do they understand what consequences will befall us should these wars continue? Do they even care? If they don’t know, then they are all fools playing a fools game, and that game does not have a happy ending!
Copyright © 2011 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.